The Stonehenge Requirements Workshop

I arrived on the Salisbury plain carrying a wax tablet, three sharpened reeds, and the calm confidence of a man who had not yet seen the stakeholder list. The project already had sixty laborers, twelve stones in transit, and no agreed statement of purpose. This was considered an excellent start.

The astronomy delegation requested a celestial instrument. The ceremonial delegation requested a sacred gathering place. A farming representative asked whether it might also provide shade. The sponsor listened gravely and summarized: ‘Something iconic.’ I wrote that down under Requirements, then created a second column labeled Meaning, which remained empty.

The first change request

Halfway through the workshop, a senior observer suggested an outer ring. The sponsor loved it. Procurement asked whether an outer ring was included in the original stone allowance. The observer replied that it had always been implied by ‘circular.’ This was history’s first known use of the phrase ‘already in scope,’ although the record is suspiciously in my handwriting.

I proposed a modest prototype using pebbles. It was rejected because pebbles lacked executive presence. We therefore tested the concept with one full-sized stone, which immediately fell over. The risk register was updated from Ground May Be Soft to Ground Has Submitted Written Objection.

“Could we make it feel more permanent without increasing the weight?”

Sponsor comment, recorded shortly before procurement left the meeting

The breakthrough came when I stopped asking what the monument was and asked what success would look like. Every group answered differently, but all agreed that future generations should discuss it at length. We had, at last, a measurable outcome. The final acceptance criterion became: ‘People must continue arguing about the purpose long after the project team is unavailable for comment.’